


Beyond the Fence

by DumbGenius



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Fantasy AU, Human AU, I'll add more tags as the story proggresses, I'm improving this story a lot, M/M, bear with me, ghost logan, gorgon deciet, magical creature au, sandman remy, siren roman, werewolf patton, witch virgil
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-09-30
Updated: 2018-11-11
Packaged: 2019-07-06 07:45:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 5
Words: 6,985
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15881640
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DumbGenius/pseuds/DumbGenius
Summary: Virgil doesn't know what to do. He has been forced from his home for something he can't control in the middle of December with nothing but his thin grey jacket to protect him from the biting winds and snow. And, even worse, he is now stuck outside the only shield that could protect him from the monsters that lurked in the shadows. How is he supposed to survive?





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello! My name is DumbGenius! So, before we get started, I have to warn you that this is my first fanfiction, so I can't guarantee this will be very good or that I will have a consistent update schedule. If you have any constructive criticism, please comment below! It will be very appreciated! Also, please feel free to point out any mistakes I make. Sometimes I mix up words and don't doubt I will do it while writing. Now, TO THE STORY!

     "Virgil! Wake up, we're leaving in half an hour!"

     Virgil groaned into his pillow, trying to push the hands that were shaking him away. The world would keep turning even if he wasn't awake to be a part of it, right?

     The hands persisted. "Virgil, I swear to God, if you're late to the Initiation, I'll throw you through the Fence  _myself."_

Wait... Initiation?

      _Oh God, the initiation!_

     Virgil sat upright in his bed so quickly that his brother-who had been the one waking him, Virgil figured-jumped back in surprise before falling over and falling over onto his own bed a few feet away. The teenage boy fixed his dark eyes onto Virgil's and glared.

     "You have clothes in the bathroom. Get cleaned up, you look like shit," He hissed. Virgil took no offense. Noel's nerves were probably through the roof right now and Virgil was probably going to feel the same way when he was awake enough.

     Virgil nodded, retreating from the room he shared with his brother, and shutting the door behind him to escape the boy's icy stare. Virgil always was jealous of the younger boy's ability to make everyone around him terrified.

     He dragged himself down the hall, passed his mother's bedroom and into the small bathroom. Everything in this house was carved from stone, and this room was no different.

     Like Noel had said, on the counter sat a pile of Virgil's nicest clothes, which wasn't really saying much because all his clothes looked the same. Everyone's did.

     He pulled on the baggy white shirt, slipped into the worn jeans, and shrugged on the thin grey jacket. They all hung loosely on him, pass me downs from his taller, muscular father from when he was still alive. Virgil was more like a beanpole, never being interested in anything "manly" like sports or whatever. 

     He quickly pulled a brush through his short hair. He always wanted bangs, but those were improper, and the Elders would never stand for it. He once had a friend who had parents that were okay with him having longer hair. When he came to school one day, he was escorted to the office by a teacher. He came back to class sniffing and holding back tears, bruises lining his arms and his hair completely shaved off. No one dared to ask why.

     He turned to the oval mirror bolted to the wall, making sure he looked somewhat decent. Even though he managed to fall asleep at a reasonable time the night before, years of anxiety driven insomnia had created permanent bags under his eyes. He was pale from nearly no exposure to sunlight, and his face was a little bit oily because his turn to take a shower wasn't for another couple days. Noel was right, he did look like shit.

     He took a deep breath to steady his growing nerves. He reminded himself of the logical facts. His bags would probably go unnoticed, as they weren't important, his paleness could be blamed by the fact that it was the dead of Winter, and there would be many people with oily faces at the Initiation since everyone had to take turns using the water. He was fine.

     While this helped a little bit, his was still very nervous. There was still one very distinct feature of his face that Virgil was sure no one else on stage today would have. His eyes.

     They were a bright purple color, and they always seemed to shine a bit then a normal person's eyes. Honestly, they were very pretty.

     But if Virgil wasn't careful, those eyes would get him killed.

     You see, purple eyes were a sign of magical power, and while that might seem pretty cool, it was considered evil inside the Fence. If a baby was born with purple eyes, they were killed immediately, and if you were any older than a toddler when the Elders found out, you were thrown through the Fence.

     Virgil shuddered at the thought. He was terrified of what might happen if someone found out.

     Virgil pulled open one of the drawers under the sink. It was seemingly empty, but Virgil knew better. he pulled out a thin slab of wood at the back, and Virgil's one saving grace was shown.

     He pulled out the small plastic container, and opened it to find his brown colored contacts. It might not seem like much, but for Virgil it was the difference between life and death. It was also highly illegal.

     He put them on quickly, blinking a few times before turning back towards the mirror. His gaze was met by brown eyes. Good.

     He hid the container away once more before leaving the bathroom. He was met with the sound of stone bowls hitting stone table. He guessed that meant Mother was up.

     When he walked in, his brother had already sat down to eat, and his mother was spooning oatmeal into her own bowl.

     "Good morning Virge," she said with a tired smile, dark bags hanging from her eyes, "You ready for your big day?"

     "No," he replied sarcastically, hoping to get a smile from his Mother. He failed. She replied with a simple  _Hmm_ before sitting down, already turning back into the husk of the woman she used to be.

     Virgil frowned at his bowl, which held the bland oatmeal he ate every single day, before picking up his spoon and digging in. Noel was already almost done, and Mother was just staring at it, not even bothering to pick up her own spoon and play with it to pretend she was going to eat it. She must be really lost in thought today.

     "Are you coming to Virgil's Initiation today mother?" Noel asked after a moment of silence. Mother forced herself to look up at him, then to Virgil, before moving her gaze down to the bowl. "Not today sweetie. Mommy's not feeling good today."

     Virgil tried to keep the look of disappointment off his face. She seemed to hardly realize that Virgil was twenty instead of three.

      Virgil took another bite, before his brother stood, looking down at Virgil and motioning for the door. Virgil nodded, standing as well and following the sixteen year old to the door.

      They stopped for just a second before they left the house, muttering goodbyes they knew their mother couldn't hear.

      Then they were gone, and their mother just kept staring at her food.  

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welp, that came out sadder than it was supposed to.  
> Thank you for reading! Next chapter should be out next Saturday!


	2. Chapter 2

     Virgil immediately started shivering when he walked out the door. The sun had not risen yet, even though it was nearly ten o'clock in the morning. Winter Solstice. That name sent shivers down the spine of any twenty year old. It was the scariest day of the year. The sky was dark from clouds that spread as far as you could see in every direction. It was probably going to snow today.

     Virgil pulled his jacket closer around him, turning to make sure Noel had remembered to lock the door -even though he never forgot- before walking together down the dirt road.

     Virgil lived in the northernmost side of the town, in the Cliffsides. The houses here were carved from the stone of a cliff that towered over the entire city, and the house were stacked on top of each other for at least four stories high, or at the most ten. The winding stone stairs were the only way down from these higher homes, and they were often made steep, and became slippery when it rained. Virgil was glad they lived on the bottom floor of their six story stack.

     The cliff, maybe six hundred feet high, bent over some of the stacks and protected their homes from rain and snow. Sadly, this was not the case for Virgil and Noel. Virgil once saw an old man walking down those stairs in the rain, and slipped off, about a story from the ground. Died a few days later, Virgil was afraid.

     They were quickly swept up by the crowd walking the same way they were. A blanket of grey trudging down the muddy path.

     Just outside the Cliffsides were the farms. About half a mile wide and surrounding the city was just fields of essential plants such as wheat and corn. The food here always tasted rather dull, no matter where in the Fence you were.

     Sometimes you could see animals in the fields, cattle and such, munching away at the grass. Beef was hard to get nowadays, but pork seemed to always be in supply. that was one good thing.

     After that was the inside of the city. There were a few very small houses as the fields ended, which were only for those who didn't have enough room in the Cliffs to fit their large families. These were not much better.

     Then you had where the Elders lived. They had much bigger houses, always saying they needed more room for their larger families, but the largest Elder family there was only had five people living in the household. Most of the families in the Fence had to make do with the tiny, three-roomed house for their family of eight or nine. Virgil never thought this was fair.

      After that, they were at their destination. A large town hall that stood in the very center of everything. It was tall, twice the size of the Elder houses, and held tall windows that went up the side. It stood menacingly over the citizens, and Virgil always knew that going in was almost suicide. But here he was being pushed into a single file line by some Elders-In-Training, who were little more then mindless robots.

     He kept his hand in his brother's this entire time, knowing that if he let go for just a second, he would lose the boy to the bustling crowd. Everyone in town was here, and while it wasn't like being in a crowded city, it was overwhelming all the same. Virgil fought to keep his breathing normal, but as he got closer to the large building, Virgil knew that he was almost gasping at the air, almost fish-like.

     Noel was walking in front of him. Virgil pulled a little at the younger boy's hand to get his attention. When Noel turned, he realized his brother was about to break down, and pulled him to the side of the road where the crowd was thinner.

     He grabbed Virgil by the shoulders and turned him so they were staring each other in the eye.

     "Breath with me," he told him in an almost stern manner. He breathed in his through his nose and counted, Virgil doing the same. They took a few deep breathes, counting all the while, until Virgil had backed away from the edge of breaking down where he stood. Noel smiled at his anxious brother.

     "Everything will be fine," he promised, "You will not be thrown out. The Elders will love you! They'll probably give you a nice job as a farmer."

     Virgil nodded. His brother was right. He will be accepted, get a job raising cattle or tending to crops, and live out his life with a nice happy family. No one know there was something wrong with him. He just had to prove he was worth keeping!

     Noel gave him a toothy grin. "Good. Now let's get you inside."

     And he was being pulled along by the crowd again, murmuring becoming louder and louder as they approached the tall double doors. The crowd had finally been thinned into a line by the time Virgil and Noel made it to the front. When they walked pass, they held out their palms to be scanned by the Elder-In-Training standing by the door. The little object he held in his hand flashed from red to green as it processed the chips underneath their skin, and they were waved into the building. Another EIT stood just inside, and told Virgil to stop.

     Virgil felt his throat tighten. 

      _Oh God he knows. He's going to tell the Elders. I'll be thrown out so fast I won't even be able to say no-_

"Come with me. The waiting room is this way."

      Oh.

      Virgil hesitantly let Noel's hand go. He waved goodbye as his brother left to find a seat in front of the stage. He wished Virgil good luck, and then he was gone.

      As the EIT escorted him to the waiting room, Virgil got a chance to observe the large room. In the center sat a round stage. It was very made of wood, and took up most of the room. Surrounding it were chairs that led up and back, all the way to the edge of the room, with only a few pathways back up to the entrance. It was like a theater, though Virgil always imagined that he would never be as frightened at an actual play than he was now.

      The EIT led him down to the center stage, people whispering with excitement as he passed. How anyone could enjoy this was beyond him.

      At the stage, there was a small door on the bottom in front of the first row. It opened up to show a small flight of stairs leading under the stage, and Virgil could see some light down at the bottom. This wasn't creepy at all.

     He turned to look back at his escort before he went down, almost hoping to see some nod of encouragement, something to prove this was a sentient being instead of a trained animal. He was only met with an emotionless expression, and Virgil gave up hoping. The EIT's were creepy.

     He stated down the stairs. At the bottom was a round room, with nearly forty chairs sitting on the walls of the room. There were only fifteen people here so far, so at least he didn't have to be embarrassed about being last to arrive.

     In the middle stood yet another set of stairs, which winded up to what was most likely the stage. The light seemed to come from a single lamp standing on the opposite side of the room from where Virgil stood.

     He decided he wanted to sit next to the lamp. He walked around the stairs and sat as quietly as he could onto the plastic chair next to it.

     "HI!"

     Virgil jumped at the sound of an excited, sing-song voice sitting next to him. He turned quickly, nearly falling out of his seat to see another boy sitting on the other side of the lamp. Virgil swore he wasn't there a second ago.

     The boy grinned at Virgil, holding out his hand. "Hello! My name is Thomas!"

     Virgil just stared at him, fighting the urge to crawl into a ball and scream. He hated social interaction. 

     But he took Thomas's hand anyways, knowing that he would be rude not to. His hands shook a bit as he did.

     "Virgil," he replied quietly, hoping to God that will please him so he could back to being silent.

     "That's a nice name! I just noticed how you looked a bit lonely over here, so I thought it would be a good idea to say something."

     "Oh... Thanks."

     They sat in silence for a little bit. Virgil thought that was the end of their conversation, but apparently Thomas thought otherwise.

     "Sorry, I've never been great at the whole "socializing" thing," he said awkwardly, catching Virgil by surprise. 

     "Really? You seem like the social butterfly type."

     "Ha. You'd be surprised at how easily you can trick someone into thinking you actually like people."

     Virgil laughed at that. It wasn't often you met other introverts in this town. It was, like, ninety-nine percent extrovert.

     "Well, you're gonna have to teach me how, cause I am terrible at it," Virgil grinned.

     Thomas just smiled and laughed, all signs of nervousness on his face washing off. Virgil didn't even realize that he looked nervous until he was actually happy. That boy was good.

      _"_ _Welcome ladies and gentlemen,"_ boomed down the stairs, shocking both Virgil and Thomas out of their small bubble of happiness,  _" Welcome, to the Initiation!"_

The excited cheers of the audience shook the ceiling of the small waiting room. Virgil felt dread claw up his throat.

       __Let the show begin.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now, let the story truly begin.
> 
> Next chapter will come out next Saturday. See you then!
> 
> Edit: I just realized I was calling the Elders-In-Training EIDs instead of EITs, so I just fixed that. Sorry!


	3. Chapter 3

     The crowd above roared and cheered at the announcer's voice, and all Virgil felt was a deep fear about what was going to happen next. _You_ _are going to die_ was the only coherent thought in his head as his breathing became harsh and uneven, anxiety sitting heavily in his stomach like a weight slowly pulling him farther and farther down into the icy waters of a panic, and Virgil could hardly think and could hardly breath and  _oh god the world is spinning I'm going to die-_

 He felt tears streaming down his cheeks, his mouth opening and closing around air that refused to go into his lungs, his knees wobbling and his shoulders shuddering and his hands shaking and  _I'm going to die-_

     He knew Thomas was calling him, he just knew it, but for the life of him he couldn't hear what he was trying to say because the voices inside his head kept getting louder and louder, all of them screaming the same five words,  _you are going to die you are going to dieyouaregoingto-_  

     "VIRGIL!" 

      The shout broke through the steady mantra of screeches, and Virgil finally opened his eyes, not realizing that he had closed them in the first place, and brought his hands from his ears as the screeching turned into whispers, something that was easier to deal with. He shut his eyes again, remembering to count, like his brother always said,  _just count until you're calm._  

       His breathing steadied a bit, his tears stopped flowing, his lungs pulling in their much needed air, his knees and shoulders calming, his hands ceasing their erratic movement. He kept counting until he had completely calmed, finally opening his eyes once more. and looking back over to Thomas. The poor boy looked so frightened, obviously not really sure how to handle the situation but wanting to help anyway. He stayed very still, not wanting to move an inch towards Virgil until he was ready.

       "I'm sorry," Virgil hesitantly said after a moment of silence. 

        Suddenly, Thomas had somehow moved from his chair to bending over Virgil and giving the startled boy a bear hug. It was so sudden that Virgil nearly jumped out of his skin. 

        "Don't you dare be sorry," Thomas whispered, before pulling away and staring him straight in the eye, " _I'm_ sorry. I didn't do anything to help you when I could have-"

        "No, you're fine," Virgil interrupted quietly, "Believe it or not, you shouting actually helped somehow."

        "Wait, really?" Thomas looked perplexed. He must have found that as weird as Virgil did.

         Virgil just nodded, a shrug on his shoulders.

         "Why don't you two just kiss already?!" someone yelled from their seats. The voice was followed by the snickers of over forty twenty-year-olds who had just witnessed the rare event of two guys actually showing they had feelings. God, Virgil thought, why do guys always have to pretend they were unfeeling machines to be accepted in the community. He just simply glared at them the man who caused the laughter.

         Thomas stood up quickly and walked sat back in his seat, keeping his eyes on the ground. 

         The crowd continued to roar, and Virgil realized that whatever they were preparing above their heads was taking an awfully long time. You see, every year on Winter Solstice, every twenty year old in town was to be "Initiated". And it wasn't like a test you had to pass, or something like that. Instead, the original Elders that started this town thought that fighting a dangerous and deadly beast was the perfect way to see who you wanted to keep inside the Fence. If you died, you failed. It made the Elders evaluation much easier. And the longer it took to set up the stage, the more dangerous the animal.

         Virgil shivered. He didn't like the thought of that.

         Eventually though, they had announced that they were ready. 

         And Virgil was terrified.

         They started calling people up, and each one climbed those winding stairs, sometimes with cocky smirks on their faces, but more often with shaking hands, and every time someone reached the stage the crowd would scream. Thomas was called before Virgil, and with a whispered good luck, Thomas climbed the twirling stairs to the stage.

         When they called Virgil, he almost didn't move. He almost decided that being thrown out would be better than facing what was waiting up there. But then he realized how stupid that sounded. No matter how horrible the beast, it was certainly not worse than what lurked outside.

         So he got up. He climbed the winding stairs and onto the stage. He winced at the bright lights that shone down on him from above, and it took all his willpower not to use arm to block them out.

         The announcer, a tall man he remembered seeing last year in the Initiation. His generation had to fight a highly venomous snake, and this was the one who had killed it.

         He pulled Virgil's arm up by the wrist, and yelled, "Give it up for Virgil everyone!" His voice echoed all over the building, amplified by the mouthpiece he wore

         The crowd cheered and clapped vigorously, and Virgil felt like he was going to puke. He couldn't handle this amount of attention.

         The man let him go quickly and an EIT led Virgil to the edge of the chain link fence that had been pulled up onto the stage while everyone had been waiting. The EIT gave Virgil a long, very sharp knife, and pushed him though a gate on the side.

         Virgil yelped, stumbling in while trying not to stab himself with his own weapon. He steadied himself, lining up at the end of the line that stood along the wall farthest away from a crate that shook on the other side of the enclosure. Virgil nearly screamed when he heard a deep rumble coming from it.

         Two more Initiators were called up and pushed in, each with their own very sharp knives, and had lined up on the other side of Virgil.

         "Now folks, the time has come," yelled the announcer, "The Initiation, BEGINS!"

         And just like that, the door on the crate had been pulled off by a piece of rope attached, and out came the beast that, Virgil knew, would kill him.

         It was very large, with thick grey fir and eyes that were so light they almost looked white. It was a wolf.

         How the Elders even got their hands on a wolf, Virgil had no idea, but here it was, right in front of him.

         But, it wasn't snarling.

         Or, really, looking scary at all.

         That deep rumble from before wasn't the wolf growling, it was the wolf's  _stomach_ growling. By the looks of it, the poor thing hadn't been fed in days, and its big round looked terrified. It refused to move from its spot where its back was against the crate wall, as far away from the viscous looking humans with their long knives. Virgil suddenly felt a whole different type of fear, watching in slow motion as the bravest of the Initiators sprinted toward the crate, and, while Virgil knew it was cliche, he moved without thinking.

         He held out his arm, and all anyone could see for a moment was a flash of light.

         And suddenly the other boys and girls were all frozen a few feet from the ground, even the ones that weren't charging, and they were all surrounded by a light purple glow. 

         The crowd went dead silent.

           __The only thought that Virgil got to think was _oh shit,_ and then something hit his head hard, and the world went dark.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not very happy with this chapter... Sorry I'll do better next week.


	4. Chapter 4

     When Virgil awoke, he found that he had the most unbearable headache. His ears rung, his stomach hurt, and he was so, _so_ tired. He also faintly noticed his back sore on top of all that. He couldn't think straight either, his mind a jumble of incoherent thoughts, and when he tried to hold onto a somewhat understandable phrase or memory it slips away again, like water sliding through his hands. He couldn't open his eyes, because even the sunlight through his eyelids was too bright, and it only worsened the headache. 

     Virgil turned onto his other side, and suddenly the light in his eyes lessened just enough to be bearable. He sighed in relief.  _That feels much better..._

     Slowly, his headache became a dull thrum in the back of his skull, which, while unpleasant, was much better than the feeling like his brain would split apart. 

     His thoughts became more clear, although it seemed that all his thoughts were questions. Why was he in so much pain? What could he have possible done to hurt himself so badly? Why was the ground so cold? Why did it feel like he was moving?

     He finally opened his eyes, hoping he could get some answers so he could limit his thought process, as that made the dull ache in his head less dull.

     He winced, letting his eyes adjust to the sudden light before opening them all the way. But opening them only gave him more questions. 

     Virgil was curled up on cool metal ground of what seemed to be a iron cage. The bars of the walls and ceiling criss crossed like they did on the doors of animal crates, and it only seemed tall enough for him to sit up. His back was pressed to one wall, and his head was pressed to another, and his legs were pressed up against the wall opposite the one against his back. He couldn't tell how long it was without sitting up, and, honestly, he was way too tired to move right now.

     Suddenly, there was a sharp bump under his head, making him hiss in pain. He noticed that, under the ringing in his ears, was the faint sound of metal wheels creaking under the weight of the cage.  _Huh_ , he thought, _guess that explains why it feels like we're moving._

     Virgil noticed that that wasn't the only sound he could hear. Louder than the wheels was the sound of people yelling. He could kinda see them outside the bars, but he couldn't get his vision to focus. He knew there were a lot of them though, and from the way they were yelling it sounded like they were angry. What could have happened to make them so angry?

     He was so confused. And so tired. Maybe if he slept a little longer it will be more clear. This could wait until he was awake enough to process it, right? He hoped so.

     Virgil quietly let his eyelids droop closed again.  _Life could wait a little while longer..._

     But then the wheels stopped creaking, and the crowd was suddenly so loud and so close to the cage that Virgil couldn't ignore it any longer. He wearily pushed himself up, continued to get the worst dizzy spell of his life and pressing his head against the cool iron wall, before finally forcing his heavy eyelids to stay open.

     That's when he noticed Thomas, curled up in a tight ball in the corner on the other side of the cage which was, oddly enough, bigger then Virgil had originally thought. He had his back pressed to the corner, his legs pulled up as tight as they could against his chest and his head drooping into his knees. His shoulders shook slightly and it almost sounded like he was crying. Why was he crying? What was going on?

     "Thomas?" Virgil asked gently, trying-and failing- to ignore how hoarse his voice was.

      Thomas jumped, and he pulled his head up and turned to Virgil so quickly he was sure he did it faster than a man could blink. "Oh my god," he said, his eyes wide, "You're awake!"

      "You say that like it's a good thing," Virgil groaned, wiping at his eyes, "What's going on?"

      Thomas frowned. "Don't you remember?"

      "Remember what? Did I forget something?'

      Thomas opened his mouth to answer, but he was, very rudely, in Virgil's opinion, interrupted.  

      "Quiet down now!" a man screamed somewhere to their right. The crowd followed the command like obedient dogs, quieting way to quickly for a normal angry mob.

      Virgil turned, trying to get his vision to focus enough to see who was talking. In front of his, maybe two meters away, stood an old man dressed in fine, blue clothes that went well with his nearly white hair. He had a beard that went down to his shoulders, and dark eyes that stared down at the cage intently. No, not just the cage, but Virgil. He didn't seem to care about Thomas at all.

      _Lead Elder_ , Virgil thought dimly, trying to look anywhere but those stern, scary eyes. He finally managed to grasp a memory of what happened a few hours ago, not a big one, but enough to tell Virgil that he was in huge trouble, and his eyes widened.

      The found him out. They were throwing him out. He was about to die.

      He turned to Thomas, who had his gave locked on the Elder. Why was he here? What did Thomas do to deserve this?

      "Hello ladies and gentlemen," he started, "My name is Elder Sage, and I will be commencing the trials of Virgil Tempest and Thomas Sanders."

      "VIRGIL!" he heard someone scream from the crowd, and when Virgil turned he saw his brother, his sweet, sweet little brother who didn't deserve to see this. The poor boy was shushed and pushed back, and Virgil could see tears threatening to fall from his eyes. He looked heartbroken. But he did not interrupt again. He had to be good. He couldn't get thrown out. Their mother needed someone to take care of her. Virgil understood that.

      Sage continued like no one had spoken, "As I am sure you are all aware, a witch has been found inside the Fence. Virgil Tempest, an Initiator in today's event, used his dark influence on others, possibly so he could set free the wild beast he was meant to fight today into our beautiful city and cause chaos."

      The crowd murmured and whispered, glaring and pointing fingers at Virgil. Virgil shook, counting and squeezing his eyes shut so he didn't panic. He couldn't panic. Not now.

      "Using magic is a incredibly illegal, as it would ruin the one place we can say is safe from the _monsters_ outside! It is punishable by _banishment from this city_! We cannot let this _evil witch_ stay in our perfect society!" Sage yelled, creating a frenzy of cheers and yelling and horrible insults that would haunt him for the rest of his life, however short it may be. He felt tears prick his eyes and fall from his cheeks. He shook all over. He couldn't breath. Oh god they were going to kill him!

      "And Thomas here," he continued, grabbing Virgil's attention, "Tried to  _defend_ this horrible monster."

      He heard Thomas's breath catch, and he looked over and saw that Thomas was panicking just as much as he was. Thomas didn't deserve this! Thomas was such a pure soul!

      "Wait!" Virgil cried, tearing the crowd's attention away from Elder Sage, " Thomas doesn't deserve this! Throw me out, I don't care, just let Thomas Free!"

      This caught Sage's interest. "Oh? You really think I'm going to let a dirty  _witch_ tell me who deserves to stay in  _my_ city?"

      His words stung, and Virgil shied away, pushing himself as far away from the Elder as the cage would allow.

      "That's what i thought," Sage hissed. He gestured to a few EIT's standing by his side, "Throw them through."

      The crowd went crazy again, screaming insults and harsh words at Virgil's and Thomas' faces. He turned and met his brother's dark brown eyes as the EIT's pushed the cage to the edge of town, across the town from the Cliffsides, passed the Elder's houses and the farms, all the way to the Fence.

      The Fence was a very high wall of light blue, shimmering magic. It stood as tall as the Cliffs on the opposite side of town, and it was the only magic allowed in this town, created by witch's who gave up their way of life to start this city, back when the humans were still in war with the monsters outside. Virgil shut his eyes tight and pushed his hands onto his ears in a feeble attempt to try and keep out the horrible screams. Suddenly, the creaking of the metal wheels stopped once more, and Virgil opened his eyes.

      The Fence glowed menacingly down onto the terrified boys, and it took all of Virgil's willpower not to scream.

      Two EIT's opened a door on the side of the cage, and the boys were pulled out so quickly they didn't even have a chance to defend themselves.

      They dragged the two of them to the blue wall, and they begged, they screamed, the pulled on their arms, they punched punched the EIT's shoulders, but nothing worked. They never winced, never lightened their grip on the boys's wrists. They just kept dragging. They went from meters away, to feet away, to mere inches.

      The EIT's paused for just a second before they pushed them through the Fence, first Thomas then Virgil, and then they alone, in a world they didn't know, stuck outside with the monsters that haunted humans since the start of time.


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am so sorry that this is so late! I haven't had access to the internet for a week! Please don't kill me!

    "No no no nononononNONONO!" Thomas screamed, scrambling off the cold dirt and banging on the shimmering wall, each bang causing a white ripple to go shooting up the scale of the barrier. He couldn't see inside, and the people inside couldn't see them. They had been cut off from society as they knew it, and now they were going to die.

    Thomas fell to his knees, pressing his fists against the Fence so he would quit hitting it, as he could already feel his knuckles starting to bruise. He let his forehead drop onto it, sending out one last weak ripple onto up the blue wall. His body started to shake, and big, ugly tears rolled down his cheeks as he let out a sob.

     Virgil was still lying on his back, staring up at the grey clouds above, watching as the first snowflakes fell from the heavens. His mind was still fuzzy, and his head still hurt, and the ringing in his ears had come back, and he was so,  _so_ tired. When he heard Thomas start to cry, he pushed himself out of the dirt with a groan, and put all his energy into focusing on his friend.

     He looked so...  _broken_ , so lost. And Virgil knew what had just happened was bad, but his mind wouldn't clear up enough to process  _why_. It was almost a blessing, not being able to stress over this like he usually does, but he was still in a lot of pain. So he guessed it wasn't as good as it should have been.

    The witch dragged himself over to the Fence, groggily laying his back against it and sitting down, staying quiet. He wasn't very good at comfort.

    After a few minutes, Thomas finally brought himself down to sniffles and the occasional stray tear, and sat down next to Virgil. His head gradually bent to lie on the shorter man's shoulder.

    "Well," Virgil started, after a few moments of silence, "What now?"

    "I have to say, you seem to be handling this better than I am. I'm impressed."

    "My anxiety hasn't kicked in yet."  

    "Lucky."

    They stayed silent again. They began to shiver when the snowflake every few minutes began to turn into the snowflake every few seconds.

    "Y-you still haven't answered m-my question," Virgil finally says, teeth chattering.

    "I don't think you'll like my a-answer," Thomas replies quietly.

    "I honestly d-don't care anymore about what I like and don't l-like."

    "If you-you're sure," Thomas says with a sigh, "I guess we wait here and hope to f-freeze to death before we're found..."

    Another tear slides down Thomas's cheek. He doesn't even bother to wipe it away.

    The words hang heavy over them. They go silent again.

    "W-well I'm going to sleep. No point s-suffering if we're going to die," Virgil whispers, forcing his eyes to stay open a little bit longer, "W-wanna come with me to d-dreamland?"

    "I'll f-follow you in a bit. I want to s-see the world for a l-little longer," Thomas mumbles as a new flood of tears rolls out of his eyes. 

    Virgil looks up at him for a second, before mumbling in return, "...S-see you on t-the other side..."

    "...S-see ya...'"

    He finally lets his eyes close, finally let's his sleepiness take over him. He feels the wind get colder and harsher, the snow getting heavier, and as he drifts off, he hears Thomas hum an old lullaby popular among the mothers in the Fence. It made him think about his own Mother, before his Father passed on, when she was happy, and he smiles a bit at the memory. He misses his family...

\-----------

    Virgil is rudely shaken awake. He groans and tries to push away the offending hands, but they hold firm. "Go away, Noel," he mutters at them.

    "Virgil! W-wake up, this is important!"

    Oh yeah... He was freezing to death... Why was trying to wake him up? He pries his eyes open.

    The snow had gotten much heavier, and it was starting to fall into great piles. His feet were completely submerged in icy snow. Thomas sighed a quick breath of relief, "Oh t-thank god, you're n-not dead."

    "What's g-going on?" Virgil asks tiredly.

    "There's p-people here to help us! Come o-on, get up!" Thomas grabs Virgil's hands and pulls him up to his feet with a huff. They both keep shivering like chihuahuas.

    "Wai- What?! What do y-you mean?! T-there's no humans out her-"

    Suddenly, there's a thick blanket being thrown over Virgil's shoulders, and Virgil turns to see two young men dressed in coats and scarves. The one who just threw the blanket over him had blond hair, and wore sunglasses despite there being no visible sun. He probably looked like he belonged on a beach without all the Winter clothing.

    The other, standing a bit behind Sunglasses Guy, had a grey scarf wrapped around his nose and mouth, and earmuffs over his ears. His eyes were what had caught Virgil's attention though. Even through the man's fogged up glasses, Virgil could see they were a very light, almost white, blue. So...  _inhumanly_   blue... Virgil thought he remembered those eyes from somewhere, and wondered how he could forget such odd eyes.

    "Yes, we know, 'Humans out here?!', we've heard it before. Come on, you need to get somewhere warm before you get frostbite, if you don't have it already," The Sunglasses Guy said, already starting to walk off. Thomas started walking after him, but the Blue-Eyed man stayed by Virgil's side. 

    "Come on kiddo," he started, turning to Virgil, "We're gonna take you guys home and give you some warm comfort food, you guys need it, especially after what you've been through."

    Virgil narrowed his eyes, "And how do  _you_ know what we've been through?"

    The man seemed startled, quickly averting his eyes and as he starts to fiddle with his scarf. "W-well, you-you know, uh..."

    "Are you guys coming or not?!" Sunglasses-Dude yells from up ahead. The man seems to jump at the opportunity to end the conversation, "YES! I mean, uh, yes we're coming!" He runs off to join the group, and Virgil, with no better options, begrudgingly follows a few feet behind. There was something very off with that man.

\--------

    The men lead the group into the forest, leading them up and down dirt trails, even when they become covered by snow, meaning the two must have known the land well. At first trees are spread out, leaving a lot of room for the wind and snow, but as they go deeper, and deeper, the trees start getting taller, and their branches start to twist together due to their close proximity. It was eerie, as the trees had no leaves, because it almost looked like skeletons holding hands. 

    Thomas walked at the men's heels, eager for food and shelter, but Virgil was so very tired, and his head was  _still_ hurting, so he kept trudging behind, using all his energy to keep them in his sight.

    When they finally reached a large clearing with a two story cabin sitting in the middle, Virgil was exhausted. he could barely walk. There was a sign hung up just above the wooden door, which said, "Remy's Inn" in large, bold letters. Wait, were they gonna have to pay to stay here?

    When they walk in, they are instantly met by a nice living room, filled with old red furniture surrounding a chimney with a nice warm fire inside. Thomas is already sitting in front of it by the time Virgil see's it, and he sticks his hands out towards it with a sigh of relief. 

    "Please, have a seat anywhere you like. I'm going to call the Doc to make sure you don't to make sure you don't have frostbite, and then we'll set you up with some nice meals, okay?" The odd one says to Virgil. The witch just nods, moving away from him to sit lay down on one of the couches. One nap can't hurt right? He lets his head hit the arm of the couch and falls asleep almost instantly.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know, this is short, I am so sorry, I'll write a longer chapter next week. Bye!


End file.
